LOCUS OF CONTROL ORIENTATION AND LEVEL - Drake University

Names or other identifying information about the panicipantn would not be
utilized. All data have been secured in a lmkd cabinet.
Pmedure
The name and I.D. number of 132 persons who had abdominal surgery
and received epidural analgesia between May 1, 1991 and July 1, 1992 were
obtained from the surgical unit on which they had been cared for
postoperatively. The addresses and phone numbers of these persons were
obtained from the Medical Records Department. The hospital's Institutional
Review Committee required the researcher to contact the surgeons who cared
for these persons. Three doctors denied access to the persons for whom they
had wed. This decreased the potential sampIe to 88.
The letter explaining the study, the MHLC scales, and a self-addressed
stamped envelope were mailed July 2, 1992 to the remaining 88 potential
subjects. The MHLC scales were marked with the patient's I.D. number so that
it could be matched with the data to be collected from the patient record. On
July f 7th, persons who had not responded were called by the researcher to
verify that they had received the mailing. The researcher offered to answer any
questions they had regarding the study. By July 24, 1992, 5 1 persons had
responded by returning the MHLC scales. The researcher then examined the
records of the 51 respondents to determine if they met the criteria and to collect
the demographic data and data regarding pain. Forty persons met the criteria
for inclusion in the sample. The pain scale scores which had been recorded
every four hours for the first 48 hours after the patient was reeved on the
surgicat unit were obtained. These data were further broken down into the pain